Tornadoes, thunderstorms sweep Greene Co.

High wind gusts uproot trees, knock over some 300 utility poles, power outages widespread
A cluster of thunderstorms swept through Greene County, along with other parts of southwest Missouri, on Tuesday, April 29, creating high winds and spawning seven tornadoes that downed utility poles, uprooted trees, and left many without power. No injuries or deaths were reported.
Most of the damage occurred in Springfield, which saw up to 50,000 people without power due to severe damage to the city’s power lines and infrastructure.
The National Weather Service (NWS) reported that the weather event developed a total of seven tornadoes in the Ozarks, two of which were in Greene County, one southwest of Elwood and the other northeast of Ebenezer.
Near Elwood, an EF-1 tornado landed at about 9:24 a.m. and traveled about a mile and a half before lifting at 9:25 a.m. It was about 50 yards in width and had winds that reached speeds of about 90 miles per hour.
“Many trees were uprooted in different directions, with some trees falling on a residence,” NWS reported. “It also damaged the roof of a barn and an outbuilding.”
At Ebenezer, near Fair Grove, an EF-0 tornado landed at 9:40 a.m. and traveled a little over five miles before lifting at 9:46 a.m. just west of Highway 65. It had an estimated width of 100 yards and winds that reached speeds of up to 80 miles per hour.
“Many trees were uprooted or split, and many large limbs broken,” NWS reported. “A small residence and farm outbuilding sustained minor damage. Damage was limited along the western portion of the track and was observed to increase along and east of Farm Roads 181 and 48.”
Besides tornadoes, the weather event also produced powerful wind gusts. The NWS reported wind speeds between 58 and 90 miles per hour in Springfield, and up to 48 miles per hour at Wilson’s Creek, near Republic.
However, not all communities were as seriously impacted as Springfield. Laura Burbridge, Republic city clerk, reported that there was “not much damage in … Republic compared to the rest of the county,” and according to a posting on the City of Willard Information Facebook page, a tree was knocked over in Willard at Farm Road 103, south of Farm Road 94, blocking traffic.
Restoring power to customers a challenge for utility companies
Besides Springfield’s City Utilities, two utility companies that provide electricity in Greene County to residents outside of Springfield saw a number of their customers lose power due to the damage the storm system did to their power lines. Liberty Utilities reported that 23,000 of their customers across the four-state area experienced power outages due to the storms, while Ozark Electric Cooperative (OEC) said up to 10,000 of their customers were without power. Both utilities reported that all customers had power restored by Friday, May 2.
Kelli Price, director of Communications and Marketing at Liberty, said that the storm system was the most damaging they’d experienced “since the 2011 tornado”.
“Liberty experienced extensive damage to our system, including more than 200 broken poles and transmission structures,” she said. “This damage, caused by tornadoes and high winds, was the most common reason for power outages. More than 300 Liberty crew members and contractors supported service restoration efforts, much of it in challenging weather conditions, including rain, additional high winds, and muddy, wet conditions.”
Patrick Oehlschlager, general manager and CEO at OEC, also said that the damage caused by the storms was greater than usual. OEC lost 98 poles in the storms.
“This has been the largest storm event for OEC since the 2007 ice storm,” he said. “This particular storm damaged a higher-than-normal amount of three-phase poles, which are more difficult to replace. Additionally, the weather and wet conditions made it very difficult to get to where our lines are. Being a rural power provider places our lines in fields, across streams, through hollers, and up bluffs. Removing blown-over trees and other debris has to be accomplished before we can get to the repairs.”
Oehlschlager also thanked OEC’s members for their understanding during the repair process.
“Thank you for all your patience and encouragement throughout this storm,” he said.